Small businesses once they start to grow can begin to adopt ‘corporate’ tactics. Rather like when we get older we start saying the same things our parents say!! It’s easy to fall through the trap door of building organisational structures, implementing systems and creating job descriptions in the belief it provides us with control. Actually it can do the complete opposite.

As we grow we fear making the wrong decisions, expect no mistakes from our employees and build a structure that defends us from being human and imperfect. We create defined roles and responsibilities that constrain a persons ability to be innovate and then silos emerge. Teams fragment and become protective, fearful of looking stupid and pointing out the obvious. People start saying the ‘right’ things to directors and, finally, managers start using their positional authority by trying to control the uncontrollable, people. Low and behold anyone dare to expose their fallibility.

Everyone starts feeling crushed and accept this is the ‘way things are done round here.’ It’s no wonder that after an initial spurt of growth, small businesses begin to plateau and growth slows dramatically. We just sucked the life out of our business. As owners we tend to focus on growth being measured exclusively by the figures when it’s actually about the employees growth. In the past we recognised and praised their initiative, now afraid of loosing control, we stifle it.

For once, forget job descriptions, get rid of structure, deliberately allow teams to work together on joint problems to prevent silos and ditch those job titles. It’s not about keeping control that you need to be worried about, it’s the growing inertia business expansion can bring.

Each generation has it’s opportunity to improve things for the better. Each generation has it’s challenges when it comes to terrorism and war. Each generation has to face the inevitable changes that affect business lives. Each generation has to understand that change isn’t necessarily for the worse.

There is no denying that the web and technology has provided us with shifting sands and there are some things that have died; destructive competition. Broadcasting and shouting. Sales pitches, safe, mundane relationships with customers and employees. Being in control and managing people. The traditional way of making a profit. Copyright and patronising conversations. Silence. Corporate speak and organisational structures. Them and us. Marketing in the traditional sense. The memo and email. Egotistical management and scarcity. Information on a need to know basis.

I could go on. Unlike leg warmers, pogo sticks and lego, they are not going to make a come back, no matter how retro they may look in the future!

Down on the ground things are happening. Stuff is going on whether its in the factory, studio or office. And, of course, your customers are changing too! Bosses, high flying graduates, sales people and account managers can easily become remote, absent and distant.

By being conspicuous by your absence you’re effectively saying I’m not interested and too busy spinning plates even if this isn’t your intention and you have an ‘open door’ policy. That absence can stick out like a sore thumb.

It doesn’t take much effort for us to get off our asses and rectify it. Get out onto the factory floor this afternoon, ring that key client you haven’t spoken to in ages and find out what’s happening. Be conspicuous by your presence not your absence!

Finally companies are starting to recognise brains are in and brawn is out. Managing the human imagination, leveraging and developing knowledge is the small business owners number one job. But, there are a lot of people out there that still just don’t get it, really don’t get it and haven’t re-engineered their businesses to adapt to it.

Most of us don’t produce ‘atoms’ anymore but ‘bits’ even the human grey matter variety! It’s mostly about talent, competence, innovation and creativity. This isn’t optional anymore, it’s an adventure. Being able to harness the human power you have in your organisation is crucial. Recruiting the bold, the passionate and the best is essential.

Just as important though is the ability of your people to take on the responsibility and accountability expected and demanded of them. They will need to achieve extraordinary things in the future. In a fast, ever changing, rough, wired company, the very thing that may make or break it is the strength of trust amongst your merry ban of men and women. Take a look at the link below. If you haven’t read it before its a great guide to the future of trust. Click to download:

http://changethis.com/44.04.TrustEconomy

There are four key leadership skills; creating a common purpose, motivating and inspiring people towards that purpose, keeping up momentum by reinforcing the purpose and, finally, developing people to be able to deliver the purpose. Nothing new there, but when was the last time you spent any amount of time considering your credibility and reputation in being able to deliver the above?

Inspiration comes by way of this equation: Credibility + Reputation = Inspiration

As business owners we spend our lives attempting to inspire our customers through building our credibility and reputation, however, how often do we step inside our business, sit down and work out how we build credibility and reputation in terms of leading our people?

I’m not talking about mundane, procedural led appraisals (they need to be shot at dawn) but meaningful discussions, chats and vibrant conversations about where the hell you have been together and where the hell you are going together. We tend to be quite comfortable forming a deliberate plan on how to build credibility with customers but tend to ignore our most significant investment, our people.

Don’t know about you but most companies bore me stiff.  They’ve become stifled in traditional business models where egos rule and play is non-existent. There are exceptions like www.outersight.co.uk who are doing exciting things, but, there are many out there wrapping themselves in dodgy Christmas wrapping paper, frigid, frightened to do anything too maverick, excited by something they think is special but isn’t.

I couldn’t work in one, scares the living daylights out of me. Yet these very organisations are supposed to be the leaders in their field, the innovators of our time. But they are not, because they haven’t abandoned the very things they needed to abandon. Its hard to see how these archaic ships of the past can change and change as rapidly as they need to before they perish in the rough seas ahead.

Enter the small business. Nimble, fast, lean, ideas led. But we need to act fast and differentiate where our advantage is now and in the near future….knowledge, expertise, skills, value and in the people we employ including ourselves of course.

Get two or three people involved in the business who are a little maverick, freaky, cutting edge even slightly mad and get rid of the people, including customers who are adding no value at all. People slightly off the wall are always full of ideas.

Spend an enormous amount of time nurturing your stars. Create individual employee experiences with them and don’t rule out ‘wet behind the ears’ graduates. They are quick, keen, technology savvy and haven’t been conditioned yet. Let people express themselves, snub anything that fosters traditional thinking and allow your people to be intrigued, curious and ambitious in problem solving and ideas generation.

Only work with customers who are going to challenge your people and, of course, have fun because work can be fun, we just need to encourage it. Let the big corporates and small inert companies be strangled by procedures, devoid of curiosity, saturated by ego, driven by tradition and ensnared by routine. Take a deep breath and jump!

Two masters in one place….cool!

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/07/four-videos-about-noise-social-and-decency.html

If only it was another blip, a rough spell, a dip in the economic cycle but this time its not. Things have shifted and they have shifted radically. The financial sector will go back to ‘business as usual’ there is not doubt, despite new rules and regulations. But for most of us, the sand has moved and people’s mood has changed. The tide has more than just turned.

The eclectic mix of urgency, technology, culture and transparency will continue to drive truly interesting times over the next few years. This shift was happened already, an economic crisis just gave it a good old nudge. Much is going to change but some of the most fundamental are:

Innovation – Progress is a sure thing but it won’t just come from the big corporates, most innovation in the future will come from small groups of people or individuals. Innovation will be rampant in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, science and clean energy. For the business owner now is the time to ring fence your R & D budget and protect it as if your life depended on it. Research suggests that those who invest in R & D during a downturn will out perform those when things get better.

Fast and slow – The unabated swing to doing things fast ever increases. It’s hard to see where it will stop? There will be a point when we out run ourselves. Things move so fast now that many regard market research and preparing for a product launch with precision, completely outdated and that most products/services just need to be launched and then learn from that. Basically, stuff the research beforehand. Whether it’s reckless or responsive depends on your market place. There are times to slow down, take stock, understand the purpose and consider growth to ensure you don’t get mowed down in the process but also maintain an air of unabridged control. Perhaps we need to fail fast and grow slow?

Talent – Your employees will be the hub of your business not you or the business entity. Prepare for some huge changes in the way you will need to attract, lead and retain exceptional people with huge heaps of knowledge. There will be a war for talent and retention will be a large part of the small business owner’s role and output. No point in attracting bright people only to lose them because you can’t lead for toffee. Business owners will buy peoples ideas and creativity not how many hours they work. How much collective talent you have will dictate how competitive you are in the future.

Customer Experience – The relationships with customers will need to be more significant and intense. Getting customers attention is an expensive process, so keeping them makes more sense. They will expect more of an experience as your products/services become less important or different. They will seek out a meaningful relationship with you as the world around us seemingly becomes more superficial, untrustworthy and potentially faceless. Watch as we go back to deep, caring conversations with customers as we reject being told how good companies/brands are.

Technology – It’s not going away and so we can’t ignore how positive it can be. It has changed our processes, systems, marketing, efficiency, production, health and much more. Expect the pace of change to increase in excessive amounts and be prepared for it. No longer can you scoff at such inventions as Google and Twitter. Many small businesses still don’t have an electronic database and then wonder why they are struggling to keep their head above water! Social media will form the most substantial part of your marketing budget as we go more viral and word of mouth makes a huge comeback.

We will get through this immediate crisis even though the pain will be felt for years to come. Perhaps a shake out, rationalisation was overdue? Unfortunately, for some, it’s been a terrifying shock. What is more important though is how business will respond to the permanent, deal breaking changes in human behaviour, expectations and technological advances that will literally mean the difference between survival and growth. There is still going to be fall out, not because of a financial crisis across the world but because business simply failed to change.

An amusing talk given to TED by Carl Honore discussing the principle and benefits of slowing down. Thought provoking and worth 19 minutes of your time.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/carl_honore_praises_slowness.html

I’ve been involved in an interesting process recently that included defining the word entrepreneurship. Fine, it was required. We needed to stick a flag in the mountain and identifying what we meant, but it threw up some fabulous conversations that identified how differently people see words.

Most entrepreneurs wouldn’t define themselves as anything, that’s far too stereotypical, never mind an entrepreneur. We need to be careful about definitions. They change and are very individual. Ones definition of quality might be completely different than another. What is exceptional customer service to one person may be average to another and a definition of what is deemed as creative can get you into deep, very hot, water.

Business and work is becoming more like the art galleries of the world. What’s one mans meat is another mans poison. It’s becoming harder to define what quality is, what originality is, what great is as opposed to just good. One size fits all and assuming that all customers and employees define it in this particular way is surely an ignorant stance. Like the songwriter who wrote the song “A whiter shade of pale” said when asked what it was about; he had no idea, its whatever the listener wants it to be he commented. Defining purpose is important, but people will have different interpretations. We won’t entertain definitions in the future. Be prepared for a world of business and work that sees things in this way, in a very individual way!